Large Fennel Plant in Veggie Garden

claired(z9 CA)November 10, 2011

I have a really beautiful large fennel plant in the veggie garden that attracted tons of beneficial insects in the summer. I'm not worried about it being a bad companion plant because I have an abundance of space in the vegetable garden so I can plant other plants elsewhere.

My question is, I know its a perennial so why not just cut it back and enjoy its beauty next spring? If I take it out this fall won't it take a long time to start from scratch (by seed) to grow another spectacular plant? I'm not growing it for the bulbs, just for looks and beneficial insects at this point. Thanks for any advice..

I you have the space I see no reason at all to dig it up. You wouldn't do that with the perennials in the flower garden would you? I have a clump of bronze fennel on my allotment which has been there for years.

One tip. Fennel grows a long tap root so even quite small plants are hard to pull up. Your fennel will almost certainly self seed so you need to pull up the babies as soon as possible.